The Homelessness Dilemma  

One afternoon in July, Joel Beiswanger sat in pajama pants next to his tent and several bags of clothing on a sidewalk in San Francisco, California, as police officers stood by.

City workers had told him and the few other homeless people camped outside a local D.M.V. that they’d have to clear out, to a shelter or somewhere else. The order came after the mayor, London Breed, vowed to make it more “uncomfortable” for sidewalk dwellers to stay put.

Beiswanger, 49, who said he finds shelters too stressful and has nowhere else to go, took issue with the mayor’s statement, which implied that homeless people until then had lived somewhat comfortably.

“Where are the bathrooms? Showers? Where is there comfort?” he asked. “Every week, someone comes through and takes everything you own, no questions asked.”

Joel Beiswanger sat in pajama pants next to his tent in San Francisco, California. He had several bags of clothing on a sidewalk. Police officers stood by on that July afternoon.

City workers told him and the few other homeless people that they would need to leave the area where they camped outside a local D.M.V.  They had to go to a shelter or somewhere else. The order came after the mayor, London Breed, promised to make it more “uncomfortable” for people to camp out on the sidewalk.

Beiswanger, 49, said he finds shelters too stressful. He has nowhere else to go. He took issue with the mayor’s statement, that implied that homeless people were comfortable on the sidewalk.

“Where are the bathrooms? Showers? Where is there comfort?” he asked. “Every week, someone comes through and takes everything you own, no questions asked.”

As the residents of some cities have become increasingly frustrated with the number of homeless people living on the streets, local officials have gotten more aggressive about clearing encampments, allowing police officers to fine or even arrest people who refuse to leave their camps. It’s a punishment that courts had considered, until recently, “cruel and unusual” under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment.

But that view may be changing. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the town of Grants Pass, Oregon, could legally ban sleeping and camping in public places. The justices, in a 6-3 decision, overturned previous court rulings that deemed it unconstitutional to punish people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go.

The decision was a victory not only for Grants Pass, which had initiated the case and was appealing a lower court ruling, but also for cities looking for more leeway in tackling homelessness. Other states such as Florida, Texas, and Tennessee have passed similar laws in recent years, and now some people worry the Supreme Court’s decision could encourage more localities around the nation to crack down on homeless people.

In some cities, residents have become frustrated with the number of homeless people living on the streets. In response, local officials have gotten more aggressive about clearing homeless encampments. Police officers are allowed to fine or even arrest people who refuse to leave their camps. It’s a punishment that courts once considered to be “cruel and unusual” under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment.

But that view may be changing. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the town of Grants Pass, Oregon, could legally ban sleeping and camping in public places. In a 6-3 decision, the justices overturned previous court rulings that found it unconstitutional to punish people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go.

The decision was a victory for cities looking for more flexibility in taking on homelessness. Other states such as Florida, Texas, and Tennessee have passed similar laws in recent years. Some people worry the Supreme Court’s decision could encourage more cities and towns around the country to crack down on homeless people.

The situation highlights one of the thorniest aspects of the homelessness crisis—the balance between the human right to exist with or without housing and the government’s responsibility to protect public health and safety.

In cities like Folsom, California, where the number of homeless people, according to city data, leaped from fewer than 20 before the Covid-19 pandemic to more than 130 in 2024, officials say the aim of clearing encampments isn’t to criminalize homelessness but to get unhoused people the services they need.

Advocates for the homeless say the Supreme Court ruling will make the crisis worse and life harder for the more than a quarter million people in the U.S. sleeping on sidewalks and in public parks. Rather than clearing out tent communities, advocates say, cities should focus on providing people with housing, treatment, education, and jobs.

“Where do people experiencing homelessness go if every community decides to punish them for their homelessness?” Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, asked the Associated Press.

The situation highlights one of the trickiest aspects of the homelessness crisis—the balance between the human right to exist with or without housing and the government’s responsibility to protect public health and safety.

In Folsom, California, the number of homeless people leaped from fewer than 20 before the Covid-19 pandemic to more than 130 in 2024, according to city data. Officials say the aim of clearing encampments isn’t to criminalize homelessness. Rather the goal is to get unhoused people the services they need.

Advocates for the homeless say the Supreme Court ruling will make the crisis worse. Life will be harder for the more than a quarter million people in the U.S. sleeping on sidewalks and in public parks. Rather than clearing out tent communities, advocates say, cities should focus on providing people with housing, treatment, education, and jobs.

“Where do people experiencing homelessness go if every community decides to punish them for their homelessness?” Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, asked the Associated Press.

Laura Gutowski, 55, says she became homeless in Grants Pass more than two years ago, after her husband died, leaving her without a steady income. She says she’d been addicted to drugs, and while she no longer uses them, she has continued to struggle with anxiety and depression, living in her car and eventually moving into a tent.

“I never expected it to come to this,” she says.

Now local governments covered by the June ruling can legally arrest people like Gutowski. Clearing away encampments doesn’t criminalize the homeless but rather the act of camping, wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch for the majority opinion.

“It makes no difference whether the charged defendant is currently a person experiencing homelessness, a backpacker on vacation, or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building,” he wrote.

Laura Gutowski, 55, says she became homeless in Grants Pass more than two years ago. Her husband died, leaving her without a steady income. She says she’d been addicted to drugs. She no longer uses them but has continued to struggle with anxiety and depression. She lived in her car before eventually moving into a tent.

“I never expected it to come to this,” she says.

Because of the June ruling, local governments can now legally arrest people like Gutowski.

Clearing away encampments doesn’t criminalize the homeless but rather the act of camping, wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch for the majority opinion.

“It makes no difference whether the charged defendant is currently a person experiencing homelessness, a backpacker on vacation, or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building,” he wrote.

Until now, cities had to offer people adequate shelter before fining or arresting them, which is a challenge when beds are scarce. And many unhoused people reject shelter when it’s available, local officials say.

Some cities were eager to get moving after the decision.

“I’m warming up the bulldozer,” says Mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster, California, where the homeless population has more than doubled since 2018. “I want the tents away from the residential areas and the shopping centers and the freeways,” he says.

Some 350 miles north, in Sacramento, Mayor Darrell Steinberg says his city was already taking a similar approach, netting a 41 percent drop in unsheltered people since 2022.

“It’s appropriate to say that people cannot be living with this kind of squalor on our streets,” he says.

Local governments say the fines for camping are affordable and officials say they’re making every attempt to persuade homeless people to accept services such as shelters and health care.

Civil rights groups remain unconvinced. Eve Garrow, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, says this “carrot-and-stick approach” is “deeply disingenuous,” especially in California, where there’s a yearslong waiting list for government-assisted housing. “The clear aim,” she adds, “is to drive unhoused people out.”

Until now, cities had to offer people adequate shelter before fining or arresting them. That can be challenging when beds are scarce. Local officials say that many unhoused people reject shelter even when it’s available.

Some cities were eager to get moving after the decision.

“I’m warming up the bulldozer,” says Mayor R. Rex Parris of Lancaster, California, where the homeless population has more than doubled since 2018. “I want the tents away from the residential areas and the shopping centers and the freeways,” he says.

Some 350 miles north, in Sacramento, Mayor Darrell Steinberg says his city was already taking a similar approach and has seen a 41 percent drop in unsheltered people since 2022.

“It’s appropriate to say that people cannot be living with this kind of squalor on our streets,” he says.

Local governments say the fines for camping are affordable. They also say they are trying to persuade homeless people to accept services such as shelters and health care.

Civil rights groups remain unconvinced. Eve Garrow, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, says this “carrot-and-stick approach” is “deeply disingenuous,” especially in California, where there’s a yearslong waiting list for government-assisted housing. “The clear aim,” she adds, “is to drive unhoused people out.”

The homelessness crisis has affected California more than any other state
(see chart, below). It has some 180,000 homeless people, and most of them don’t live in shelters. California’s expensive housing—ranking among the priciest in the nation—contributes to the problem.

In July, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered state officials to “humanely remove encampments from public spaces” and act “with urgency,” giving priority to those who most threaten health and safety. The order doesn’t require cities to move people into shelters—which are in short supply—only to refer people to local services.

While some local governments pledge to follow the order, others are torn over how aggressively they should enforce it.

Research has shown that clearing encampments may have limited value. One study of three Los Angeles encampments, by the RAND Corporation, found that dismantling them cleaned up the area for a few months but had little or no long-term effect on a city’s homeless population.

The homelessness crisis has affected California more than any other state
(see chart, below). It has some 180,000 homeless people, and most of them don’t live in shelters. California is one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Expensive housing contributes to the homelessness problem.

In July, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered state officials to “humanely remove encampments from public spaces” and act “with urgency,” giving priority to those who most threaten health and safety. The order doesn’t require cities to move people into shelters, which are in short supply. They only need to refer people to local services.

While some local governments promise to follow the order, others are torn over how aggressively they should enforce it.

Research has shown that clearing encampments may have limited value. One study of three Los Angeles encampments, by the RAND Corporation, found that dismantling them cleaned up the area for a few months. But there was no long-term effect on a city’s homeless population.

“Any policy that doesn’t provide for where people can actually [live] will prolong how long people are on the streets and increase encampments, exactly contrary to [a city’s] goal,” says Eric Tars, senior policy director at the National Homelessness Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, who has criticized the Supreme Court ruling, says she’ll disregard the governor’s order. She’s had early success with moving people off the streets by offering them shelter in residential motels.

The decision “must not be used as an excuse for cities across the country to attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail,” Bass says.

Los Angeles County, which comprises 88 cities, has more than 75,000 homeless people. The county sheriff, Robert Luna, says his agency will arrest people only if they commit a crime, not simply for living in an encampment.

“Being homeless is not a crime, and we will maintain our focus on criminal behavior rather than an individual’s status,” Luna says.

“Any policy that doesn’t provide for where people can actually [live] will prolong how long people are on the streets and increase encampments, exactly contrary to a [city’s] goal,” says Eric Tars, senior policy director at the National Homelessness Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass has criticized the Supreme Court ruling. She says she’ll disregard the governor’s order. She’s had early success with moving people off the streets by offering them shelter in residential motels.

The decision “must not be used as an excuse for cities across the country to attempt to arrest their way out of this problem or hide the homelessness crisis in neighboring cities or in jail,” Bass says.

Los Angeles County is made up of 88 cities. There are more than 75,000 homeless people living in the county. The county sheriff, Robert Luna, says his agency will arrest people only if they commit a crime, not simply for living in an encampment.

“Being homeless is not a crime, and we will maintain our focus on criminal behavior rather than an individual’s status,” Luna says.

Thomas Roseboom, 53, camps out at Venice Beach, a busy area frequented by roller skaters, palm readers, and street performers. For now, he’s happy to be left alone.

“We’re already down and out, so when you start throwing authority down our throat, we’re going to become resistant,” Roseboom, a military veteran, says. “This is working for L.A.,” he adds, referring to the mayor’s approach. “Let it work.”

Still, the issue of encampments remains at a boiling point with residents and leaders alike.

“We are all frustrated with encampments that block sidewalks and the RVs that line our roads,” says L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “No one thinks that any of this is acceptable.”

But, she says, simply clearing tents away won’t solve the problem.

“I appreciate that everyone is out of patience,” she says. “But people don’t just disappear.”

Thomas Roseboom, 53, camps out at Venice Beach. It is a busy area with roller skaters, palm readers, and street performers. For now, he’s happy to be left alone.

“We’re already down and out, so when you start throwing authority down our throat, we’re going to become resistant,” Roseboom, a military veteran, says. “This is working for L.A.,” he adds, referring to the mayor’s approach. “Let it work.”

Still, the issue of encampments remains at a boiling point with residents and leaders alike.

“We are all frustrated with encampments that block sidewalks and the RVs that line our roads,” says L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “No one thinks that any of this is acceptable.”

But, she says, simply clearing tents away won’t solve the problem.

“I appreciate that everyone is out of patience,” she says. “But people don’t just disappear.”

With reporting by Shawn Huber, Mike Baker, and Heather Knight of The New York Times.

With reporting by Shawn Huber, Mike Baker, and Heather Knight of The New York Times.